There are more than 23.000 children living in state care in Hungary. They are abandoned not only by their parents, but by society as well. Everybody acts like it would be somebody else’s task to help them. Without reliable human relations, many of them drift to the edges.

Aranyhíd foundation is one of the few organizations that try to help them. They started their unique mentor program years ago, which provides a real solution for these children: human connections that they can always rely on. Telenor as one of the biggest telecommunication company on the market, whose mission is to build powerful connection through it’s network this Christmas decided to support their work. Our goal was to start a nationwide activation, which can finally raise people’s attention and make them act: to help children in need.

Let’s demonstrate the power of connection through a well-known tale that symbolizes the tragic fate of children left alone, The Little Match Girl. For the first time in 170 years, people finally have the chance to change the tragic story of the little girl by the power of mobile technology.

Christmas is the best and the worst time to ask people for help. Their intention to do something good is very high, but the communication noise is just as high. Even for Telenor, who is a big spender on the market, it is impossible to stand out with a traditional campaign. So we built our strategy onto three pillars: 1. to find a surprising way to raise people’s attention: we picked Andersen’s classic tale, the Little Match girl as a character, that everybody can relate to 2. To provide them the easiest possible way to support our cause: even a single call is a donation, which can make a difference 3. To make them FEEL the impact immediately: by a call they can unlock the alternative ending.

By the help of Telenor this Christmas, you could rewrite the seemingly predestined story – with a special new edition. Right before the heart-breaking end of The Little Match Girl, a phone number appears, and if you choose to dial it and talk to the abandoned girl, you can save her life by unlocking an alternate ending, as an audiobook. The story was written by Hungary’s most popular contemporary writer, György Dragomán. The happy end was exclusively available through this phone call. This way, the Fate-Changing Call made people experience how connecting with someone can literally save lives.

The new edition of the book was available in the biggest bookstores all over Hungary, who happily participated in our literature project. The story was also available as an online video, Instargam story with a direct link to make a call immediately.

The fate-changing call was not just a symbolic demonstration of the importance of human connections, it also meant real help for children in state care by supporting a Mentorship Program. 60 MN+ HUF earned media and 3,5x increase of mentor application proved that the campaign reached not just its goal, but also people’s hearts. The digital version of the book was the most popular book on BOOKR kids, which is the most popular digital book platform for kids.